Anton Kannemeyer (born 1967) is a South African comics artist, who sometimes goes by the pseudonym Joe Dog. Kannemeyer has lectured the University of Pretoria, Technikon Witwatersrand, and was also a senior lecturer at the University of Stellenbosch.[1][2]
| Anton Kannemeyer | |
|---|---|
| Born | Anton Kannemeyer 30 October 1967 Cape Town, South Africa |
| Nationality | South African |
| Area(s) | Cartoonist |
| Pseudonym(s) | Joe Dog |
Biography edit
Anton Kannemeyer was born in Cape Town. He studied graphic design and illustration at the University of Stellenbosch, and did a Master of Arts degree in illustration after graduating.[3] Together with Conrad Botes, he co-founded the magazine Bitterkomix in 1992 and has become revered for its subversive stance and dark humor.[4] He has been criticized for making use of "offensive, racist imagery".[5] Kannemeyer himself said that he gets "lots of hate mail from white Afrikaners".[2]
His works challenge the rigid image of Afrikaners promoted under Apartheid, and depict Afrikaners having nasty sex and mangling their Afrikaans.[6] “X is for Xenophobia”, part of his "Alphabet of Democracy", depicts Ernesto Nhamwavane, a Mozambican immigrant who was burnt alive in Johannesburg in 2008.[7] Some of Kannemeyer's works deal with the issues of race relations and colonialism, by appropriating the style of Hergé’s comics, namely from Tintin in the Congo.[8][9] In "Pappa in Afrika", Tintin becomes a white African, depicted either as a white liberal or as a racist white imperialist in Africa. In this stereotyped satire, the whites are superior, literate and civilised, and the blacks are savage and dumb.[10] In "Peekaboo", a large acrylic work, the white African is jumping up in alarm as a black man figure pokes his head out of the jungle shouting an innocuous 'peekaboo!'[11] A cartoon called "The Liberals" has been interpreted as an attack on white fear, bigotry and political correctness: a group of anonymous black people (who look like golliwogs) are about to rape a white lady, who calls her attackers "historically disadvantaged men".[5]
Bibliography edit
- The Big Bad Bitterkomix Handbook (2006)
- Fear of a Black Planet (2008)
- Bitterkomix 15 (2008)
- Alphabet of Democracy (2010)
- Pappa in Afrika (2010)
- Bitterkomix 16 (2013)
- Bitterkomix 17 (2016)
References edit
- ^ Kannemeyer, Anton; Botes, Conrad (2006). The Big Bad Bitterkomix handbook. Johannesburg, South Africa: Jacanda Media. p. 214. ISBN 1-77009-303-6.
- ^ a b The profane world of Anton Kannemeyer - ArtThrob
- ^ Comic creator: Joe Dog
- ^ Brodie/Stevenson - Anton Kannemeyer Archived February 3, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b Denying the privileged a voice - Arts - Mail & Guardian Online
- ^ The Brilliant Weirdness of Die Antwoord - NYTimes.com
- ^ Book Review – As sharp as a sushi knife | City Press
- ^ Anton Kannemeyer - The Haunt of Fears - New York Times
- ^ Heller, Maxwell (January 2012). "What a (Self) Portrait Can Do: Picturing South Africa in New York". The Brooklyn Rail.
- ^ Pappa in Afrika -The M&G Online
- ^ Anton Kannemeyer: Fear of a Black Planet at Michael Stevenson - ArtThrob